US investment bank Goldman Sachs has spun off internally developed technology used to enable employees to securely communicate via mobile devices and teamed up with a software company.
Synchronoss Technologies, a developer of enterprise cloud technology, will use Goldman's proprietary technology, Lagoon and Orbit, to develop enterprise mobility services and to address what it sees as a challenge to ensure greater capacity for mobile communication but to retain high level security.
Goldman developed the Lagoon mobile framework to facilitate the use of employees' own mobile devices on the bank's network while Orbit is a suite of applications, including email and document management, built on top of that framework. The technology is currently used by around 12,000 Goldman employees
It is not the first time that Goldman has spun off internally developed technology in a bid for commercial success. Since the appointment of Marty Chavez as Chief Information Officer, the bank has been busy exploring opportunities. Earlier this year technology from its internal messaging system was used to develop Symphony Communications - a financial news and research platform owned by 15 financial institutions that is aiming to challenge Bloomberg's dominance in this market.
Meanwhile the Financial Times has reported that Goldman's president Gary Cohn has struck up a friendship with Uber boss Travis Kalanick as part of a campaign by the investment bank to form closer ties with Silicon Valley and be first in the queue when high profile start-ups decide to issue a public stock offering.